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Posted By: Paul Muchinsky

Leon,

My knowledge of cards is zero. I'm not even sure what is meant by "pre-war" cards. WWII? But I do understand and appreciate what you mean about personalities, egos, and attitudes among card collectors. I once witnessed the following (I'm 99% sure it was at the National, maybe 5-8 years ago). A (card) dealer had laid out in his glass case a bunch of cards in holders, with a notice that "All cards in this case are priced at $10 apiece". Since the guy had no pins, I just gave his items a quick glance. A man comes in with his son, maybe 12-14 years old. The father quickly must have spotted a card that was worth considerably more than $10 (I was looking at items in a booth across the aisle from him). The dealer retrieves the card from the case, and then tells the customer (the father) there must have been some mistake, as this card did not belong in the $10 case. What followed was a yelling match centering around "It's not my fault you mis-placed your card. The sign says $10, here is $10, now give me the card." The dealer says he is under no obligation to sell his inventory below what it is worth--it was simply a mistake on his part. One yell led to another. Everyone around the table is half-awkward and half-curious as to how this would turn out. I wasn't watching directly, but the two men each threw a punch at the other, over the width of the glass case. I think somebody called security. The worst thing that ever happened to me in buying a pin was I promptly stuck myself with it, and my finger wouldn't stop bleeding. Pure "minor league" compared to you card collectors.

Best,

Paul